JD Vance says Christian values are 'foundation' of America's future at TPUSA tribute to Charlie Kirk

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI: Vice President JD Vance, who has been making headlines for his appearance at TPUSA's college tour in Mississippi, also highlighted why Christian values are key to America’s future in his speech.

During the address, he reflected on the impact of the late conservative activist on his faith and told students that a properly rooted Christian moral order is essential for the country’s future.

JD Vance dubs Christians values 'important foundation' of US

During his speech, JD Vance’s brief Q&A session with the audience mostly focused on questions about his faith and how it has influenced his role as Vice President. Vance responded to a question about the separation of church and state:

"I make no apologies for thinking that Christian values are an important foundation of this country. Anybody who's telling you their view is neutral likely has an agenda to sell you. And I'm at least honest about the fact that I think the Christian foundation of this country is a good thing."

Vance also criticized contemporary liberalism in his comments on faith. He told a questioner, "There's nothing wrong, of course, with focusing on people who are disenfranchised, for example. That's the focus of liberalism. But if you completely separate it from any religious duty or any civic virtue, then that can actually become, for example, an inducement to lawlessness."

He added, "You can't just have compassion for the criminal. You also have to have justice too. Which is why I think that a properly rooted Christian moral order is such an important part of the future of our country."

Vance argued, "Anybody who tells you it’s required by the Constitution is lying to you. What happened, is, the Supreme Court interpreted ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion’ to effectively throw the church out of every public place at the federal, state and local level. I think it was a terrible mistake, and we're still paying for the consequences of it today."

JD Vance reveals how he and his wife Usha balance life together

At one point, JD Vance was asked by a questioner about living in an interfaith household. Notably, Vance’s wife is Hindu. Vance, who was not a Christian when the pair met, said he and his wife decided to raise their boys Christian.

He explained, "Most Sundays she will come with me to church. As I've told her, and I've said publicly, and I'll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends, ‘Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that.’"

He added with a quip, "Because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way. But if she doesn't, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn't cause a problem for me."

Vance also spoke about the impact Charlie Kirk has had on his faith and how Kirk inspired him to be more vocal about it. He shared, "This is another way in which Charlie has affected my life – I would say that I grew up again in a generation where even if people had very deep personal faith, they didn't talk about their faith a whole lot."

He also credited God for shaping his role as a husband and father, "But the reason why I try to be the best husband I can be, the best father I can be, the reason why I care so much about all the issues that we're going to talk about, is because I believe I've been placed in this position for a brief period of time to do the most amount of good for God."

He concluded, "And for the country that I love so much. And that's the most important way that my faith influences me."